Having worked around financial crimes for a number of years, I noticed they seemed to be on the rise.
One reason for this is technology, which grows more rapidly than laws designed to protect us from it.
Although the blog is a resource to educate people on identity theft, it also strives to educate the common person on the rapidly growing problem of crimes enabled (made too easy) by technology and the Internet.

The newer version (MoneyGram) printed in both Spanish and English are now being counterfeited and being circulated via Internet scams. The one I saw was accompanied by a letter from Walmart Financial Services.

Like other counterfeit financial instruments, we'll probably see these circulated via romance, auction, job, secret shopper and lottery scams. The common theme is that the scammer will always request that you send a portion of the money back to them (wire transfer is the preferred method).

In the case of auction scams, they may be used to buy expensive merchandise.

Cashing these items will leave you at a minimum, financially liable. I've also been told by readers that people are sometimes getting arrested for passing them!

The new version (recently seen) have receipts attached to them. Money Order companies often attach receipts to their products as a security feature. These receipts are used to obtain refunds, if a money order is lost, or stolen.

The counterfeiters have probably added this feature to instill a false sense of security.

Like their predecessors, these counterfeit Money Orders are (normally) easy identified by calling in and verifying their authenticity.

MoneyGram has an automated system to do this, which can be accessed by calling 1-800-542-3590. Live customer service help is available during normal business hours.

MoneyGram also has a page with a lot of relevant information on how to SAFELY negotiate these items, here.

Since this is something new, if anyone would like to help get the word out, please leave a comment on this post, or drop me a line at EdwardDickson@SBCGlobal.net.

50 comments:

I received 2 MoneyGram money orders yesterday for $920.00 each. This man that I chat with asked if I could do him a favor, that he would send me 2 checks that is from his work, for me to hang on to it and would let me know later what to do. Now he tells me to cash it and in turn send him $1,500.00 and keep the rest. Did not give him any of my personal information but instead told him to send it in c/o my firm's address, addressed to just my first initial and last name. I did call Money Gram's 800# to report this but sadly there is not much that can be done other than this stop these people. So I will send him some money in the form of these 2 checks, LOL, mailing it today.

I advertised online for a roommate wanted - usually this is a legitimate way to find roommates (craigslist). However, all good things must come to an end, I suppose - as I discovered by the myriad of emails I received, in poorly written, difficult-to-understand English, from supposed foreigners (usually claiming to be born and raised in the UK but attending school in Nigeria, and heading to the US to live). I was wary from the get-go, thank goodness, and I did find some precendence, when I researched online, about counterfeit money orders. However, I had already started a correspondence with (supposedly) a female from Spain. She was overly enthusiastic and full of flattery. Another red flag. She also claimed that her company would be paying to ship her things, including her car (Camry, for some reason, she specified the model and make), to the US. She told me the international money orders would arrive for the rent and the deposit (no questions asked), plus an amount to pay the "shippers" when her things arrived. This all seemed too strange, so I tried to end all email correspondence, at first with ignoring and then by telling her the room was unavailable and to please NOT send the money. A few days later, after an email from her about how hectic things have been, about some car accident she'd been in, etc. etc., I received a UPS package, with a return address in West Virginia of all places (not a valid address, when I look online), that included 4 separate MoneyGram money orders for $980 each. First, that's a strange amount. Second, added up, the total has no relevance to the amount of rent and deposit that had been discussed earlier. I emailed her back to say I would not cash them and would return them to her if she'd give me her address. The only response I received was, "I've found a great roommate situation in Detroit, Michigan" (not anywhere NEAR where I live, by the way) and "Can you please cash the checks, keep a couple hundred for your time and troubles and send the rest so that I can pay my great new roommate up in Detroit." Give me a break!

I just got off the phone with MoneyGram and they confirmed that the money order numbers had already been cashed for different amounts that the $980 these ones were written for... Meaning, these are counterfeit.

I have no doubt.

But I want to know where/how to report these. Do I simply call the local police? Is there an FBI number? The things I found online don't seem to mention this particular type of circumstance, so I'm not sure of the appropriate place to report.

Luckily, I did not reveal any of my account numbers or social security number or anything like that. However, these people DO have my full name and full mailing address. That somewhat concerns me.

I recieved postcards in the mail about jobs.There was one that seemed so simple.I sent 3.00 with my mailing address to the so called company.A few week later I recieved a email saying I will be recieving a check and instructions on what to do.I recieved two money orders for 500.00 each wrote out to me with no instructions.I depoisted them and for two weeks thought great,I've got money.So I spent about 500.00 and then one day looked at my bank statement and noticed that the checks were returned.I called my bank and asked why,"those were money orders how could they be returned?"They said they were conttiefit.Great so now I fell behind and woulb be charged another for late fees.So for that matter I will always be careful what to believe.

I too got three money-orders with walmart's logo on it for amount $950 each. Ofcourse I was happy seeing these money orders but not sure who have sent it and how they got my mailing address. So I started digging more to find what had happened & revealed the following.1. My address was taken from some online free classifieds (like sulekha.com, craigslist.com)2. All the 3 money orders are counterfeit.3. All the 3 money orders are already encashed by someone else a month back.

I received 2 MoneyGrams for $750 each; called MG, found that the first was cashed 4 months ago, the other on undetermined date for $0. Counterfeit.I'm looking into online fraud notification, will forward scanned copy of both, bring myself down from the free-money-high...

I hope that whoever is doing this money gram counterfeiting will get caught. last week I have received 3 money grams for $820.35 each payable to me. I was instructed by the recruiter of the job to cash them out and give back 90% through western union, was so happy but kind of scared on why i was so easily trusted for these amount. so i decided to deposit so that i can wait and see if there would be money in them. guess what my bank had mailed me saying those money grams were not negotiable. did some research and found this site..wow..and that recruiter haven't got back with me re:status of what happen...and d only thing that concerns me is that my mailing address is on their file..

i recieved 3 moneygram money orders,for a puppy i was selling. the invoice had 1 name and the money orders were signed by another...gee imagine that. Neither name was the name of the person who wanted the dog, they were "her" clients. I live in California,and she "lives" in Washington.(No names or addresses could be confirmed) Gee imagine that. When she found out I had them she wanted me to hurry up and cash them then send the remaining money ($2450) to Puerto Rico. I told her that my local police dept. would be happy to assist her and that was the last I heard from her....Gee imagine that....to all who read this, please be careful,lots of desperate weirdos out there and its only gonna get worse!!

i just received 3 moneygrams for $750 from a place called cumberland farms, and two weeks before those i received 3 moneygrams for $820 each, but no contact with anybody about sending them anything... hmmmmmm big thanks to all the comments on here

WELL I TOO WAS SENT MONEY ORDERS MONEYGRAM. FORTUNALTLY I AM NOT ONE OF THE VICTIMS IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD..... WELL YOU KNOW THE REST. HERES THE EMAIL ADDRESS FROM THE JERK..jobinspector09@aol.co.uk HE GOES BY WILL ROGERS FOR THE RECORD AND REQUEST OF COARSE FOR A FAST RESPONSE SEND THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER TO AN ADDRESS IN AFRICA WITH A WOMANS NAME ATTACHED ETC. ALL I AM SURE IS AS BOGUS AS THE SCAM ITS SELF AND YES I TOO HOPE THE IDIOT GETS BUSTED.. AS I AM SURE SOME OLD SOLE OUT THERE IS MORE GULABLE THEN US FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO INVESTIGATE THIS SCUM BEFOR COSTING OURSELVE WHAT WE ALREADY DONT HAVE TO LOOSE. BEWARE THERES MORE OF THESE LOW LIFES JUST WAITING TO EXPOSE NEW SCAMS.

I also received 3 money orders from moneygram with the Wal Mart logo on them. I called Moneygram and they all are already cashed three months ago. I am also concerned that they have my mailing address and phone number on there file-they said that they are a textile and fabrics company from the UK-here is the e-mail address that sent them-tonyadams5559@btinternet.com and tonyadams558@gmail.com-watch out and be careful out there.

This scammer sent the money order via ups to make believe legitimate he also asked more of the selling price. It took approximately a week for the money order from Walmart to be recognized as counterfeit. GUys beware of this i fell for it. Read his emails below...

Thanks for your response,will you accept Money Order as a mode of payment? Because that is the only way i can pay you with as am out of town right now on contract.If you agree to it,i will require that you send me your full name,address and your phone number so that i can forward it to my Assistant to send the payment to you.I will be offering you $30 extra to hold the item for me for a week.To expediate this transaction for both of us to avoid stress.I have conclude arrangement with a moving company,they would be responsible for the packing and picking up of the item.This will make me to be sending you extra fund because the moving company need their payment before embarking on any transaction of picking up item.I have included their fee in the payment you will be receiving,the amount covers for all logistic needed to pick up the item from you. When you receive the Money Order get it cashed at your bank and deduct the cost of your item and the $30 i offered you for holding it for me, then you send the balance to the moving company via Money Gram or Western Union before pickup can be effected.Let me know if this is ok by you,because i want this transaction to be as smooth as possible.Get back to me so that i will know the status of things you can call me but am disable and also busy at new work but u can send text to 214-557-1020,until i hear from you my regards to you and your family.This email was received from nicho hay (nichohay07@gmail.com)

Am sure you are doing well..i just want to tell you that the money order will get to you this week probably thursday which is tomorow..all you need to do is have them cashed at your bank immediately you receive it and remove the amount for the item plus the $30 am giving you for holding the item for me then you have the extra money sent to the moving company by western union and they will be coming for the pick up once they receive the money from you..the money order will be delivered to you by ups and here is the tracking number j2136194419.You can track it yourself at www.ups.com and see what time it will be delivered to your address..pls get back to me when you got the package so as to know the status of things.

Yes..tell when you got the money order cashed so u can send the extra money to the moving company..get to me when u got money order cashed..you will send the extra money by western union to

NAME : PAUL FAULKNERCITY : LITTLE ROCKCOUNTRY : USA

THAS THE INFO U NEED AT WESTERN UNION TO WIRE MONEY..AND YOU WILL BE GIVEN SOME DETAILS AT WESTERN UNION GET BACK TO ME WITH THEM LIKE 10 DIGIT NUMBER,AMOUNT SENT AND SENDER'S NAME AND ADDRESS..THANKSNICHO

KeshaI myself have been a victim of this scam, today i recieved two money orders from this company for online data entry position paying $35 an hour...so i went along with it, the guy wanted me to go to WELLS FARGO an open an account in my name so that new employees in my area would be able to get paid. 1. HECK NO I WASN'T GOING FOR IT.

2. HE DECIDED TO SEND ME MONEY ORDERS.

So i recieved them today, and i must say they look very real, so i went to www.moneygram.com an called customer service, the female advised me that there was no record of the money order number i gave her. THANK GOD I listen to my gut an didn't cash them or i probably would've been in some serious trouble that i dont need. Below is the email he sent me...be on the look out his name is MR. JOHN with Delix Tech Inc. People are getting crazy everyday, just be careful. Anything that seems to good to be true probably is. How can we stop these people, im really concerned that he has my address, an need less to say since i received these money orders, he hasn't been online all day. O he will ask you to add him to yahoo messenger, so be on the look out for that to people...just be careful.

HelloWe currently have a Data Entry position available. Details below:Job Title: Sales/Customer service/Clerical & Administrative/Data Entry OperatorPrimary Skills: Sales/Customer service/Clerical & Administrative/Data Entry OperatorJob Industry: FinanceJob Location: OnlineSalary: $35/HOURLY - $35/HOURLYHours per Week: 40Start Date: ASAPDegree Type: HSDegree Area: NA Duties/ResponsibilityClerical and administrative knowledge Compile, sort and verify accuracy of date before input Locate data entry errors Must be able to work under pressure or deadlines Must be flexible to help around office with other tasks Be able to sit for long periods of time.If you are interested email your resume to the Personnel Manager at (delixcons@yahoo.com)

forwarding all emails that I, Raymond Henderson recieve from a particular Jason Brown wherein he sent me money orders that he liked me to in-cash...but was found out to be fraud...reporting this person to prevent him from taking advantage of other people and doing the same thing he did to me..

he sent me money orders 2 of them worth $650 each...luckily i have reported it at once on the fraud dept. for proper actions to be taken...

We are glad to offer you for a job position with our company. Your task isto coordinate Payments from customers and help us with thepayment process.The customer receives and sends payment to you. Your tasks are:1. Receives payment from Customers2. Cash Payments at your Bank (Upon the paper instruction enclosed in sameEnvelope alongside the cheques)3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission/pay on each Payment processed4. Forward balance after deduction of commission/pay toIf you are interested, Kindly send to me the listed information below:

YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE AND YOU WILL SOON START RECEIVING OUR PAYMENTS AND PROCESSING IT, INSTRUCTIONS ON CASHING WILL BE SENT TO YOU JUST BEFORE YOU RECEIVE THE PAYMENTS.I WANT YOU TO WRITE ME AN E MAIL AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS ACCEPTANCE NOTICE.

forwarding all emails that I, Raymond Henderson recieve from a particular Jason Brown wherein he sent me money orders that he liked me to in-cash...but was found out to be fraud...reporting this person to prevent him from taking advantage of other people and doing the same thing he did to me..

he sent me money orders 2 of them worth $650 each...luckily i have reported it at once on the fraud dept. for proper actions to be taken...

We are glad to offer you for a job position with our company. Your task isto coordinate Payments from customers and help us with thepayment process.The customer receives and sends payment to you. Your tasks are:1. Receives payment from Customers2. Cash Payments at your Bank (Upon the paper instruction enclosed in sameEnvelope alongside the cheques)3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission/pay on each Payment processed4. Forward balance after deduction of commission/pay toIf you are interested, Kindly send to me the listed information below:

YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE AND YOU WILL SOON START RECEIVING OUR PAYMENTS AND PROCESSING IT, INSTRUCTIONS ON CASHING WILL BE SENT TO YOU JUST BEFORE YOU RECEIVE THE PAYMENTS.I WANT YOU TO WRITE ME AN E MAIL AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS ACCEPTANCE NOTICE.

i sold a sidekick lx on craigslist,,i got an offer from a guy ((kevin brody))telling me he would send me 350Usd$$but that i had to ship the sidekick lx to nigeria because hes son was schooling there..after i got a email from moneygram which i thought was fake((telling me i need to ship the item first before i can get the cash delivered to my adress and to give them the tracking number so they can verify it and send me the money ..cash))so its strange but i think the email they sent has some phishing page link on it,,so imagine i send the sidekick lx to some unknown adress in nigeria..hmm seems weird good thing i started reading this,,thats a perfect scam in order for you to get the money you have to ship it in and then give them the shipping information to the fake moneygram page which of course its really the scammer ur giving the info for!!dont fall for it!!

OK, I understand how these scams work, perfectly. We send you a form of payment, you Western Union us 90% back. My question is where did they get my email from? I have multiple addresses I use to track these and where they come from, however these say undisclosed recipients. I have like 30 emails tied to this account to which I can turn on and off but I have no idea where to start. Any ideas where they got it from like monster or simply hired? see their emailing monster@mydomain.com or simplyhired@mydomain.com and I can turn them on and off with a click of a button, but I need to know which one to turn off.

when i got the email stating that i had been accepted to have a part time job and all i had to do is cash their moneygrams and keep 10% to myself and send the remainder to an address on the other side of the world... i thought cool free money. they were 2 checks worh $850 each. After a few days my friends and family where telling me it might be a scam.. and i was like oohh great. the following day i received 2 packages with 7 moneygrams $850 on each one... now im suspisous. This is deffenitlly too good to be true.

North Carolina I received 6 supposedly Money Gram money orders today. Each are in the amount of $650. They were delivered by FedEx. They have the Giant Eagle registered trademark stamp on them. I know they are fradulent, because the circle at the bottom that you are suppose to rub to authenticate doesn't even turn white to the touch. Here is a copy of the email:Hello, My name is Raymond Prince. We got your email From gay job database resumes. We have a job opening and will like to know if you are still available to a job opportunity. Get back to me as soon as possible if you are still open to an opportunity.I await your prompt response,thanks and God bless

I actually got 5 money oreders for 500 hundred each.The guy posted a job on career builder.com as admin rep i sent him my info.(just name and address)and a couple of emails i got the checks I was suspicious of it to begin with.but i called on them and they had already been cashed a month ago.Two for 500. and 3 where for 350 but said 500 on the checks.Im playing along with him right now but im going to the police to see if their is a way to set him up when he picks up the cash.

I almost fell for this scam. I recieved a job offer from honeywell to do some accounting jobs at home. I got two money orders for 950 dollars a piece and was told to deposit them into my account and then immediately withdrawal everything except for 10% which was mine and send the money through western union. here is the actual letter:****ATTN: Top of the day to you and hope you had a great day! Am presently in Huddersfield (England) visiting our branch office and just got word that Payment has been sent to you, so this email is to inform you that payment has been sent out to you by our client and you would be getting it today(12/04/08). It was sent via FEDEX Courier and on receiving the package kindly have the payment cashed at your bank same day on the spot over the counter or you can tell the cashiers you want to have the payment deposited into your account for 24 hours if you can’t get the payment cashed out on the same day at your bank.When they are cashed, deduct 10% as earlier agreed. The company's balance is to be sent via Western Union to the company's accounts officer who is with me on this trip and the details you will for that is given below

Once payment is sent out, kindly get in touch with me with the following information to aid in picking up the money. Western Union info from you should include; I will need the following information when the Western union is sent so that the funds can be picked up:

1. Ten digit Western Union Money transfer control number (MTCN NUMBER) on receipt.2. Exact Amount sent after western union charges were deducted3. Sender's name and address as it appears on western union receipt.

Our company will need the above information for each of the transactions. You are requested to kindly reply to this email as soon as you receive it. I would want you to send me as email as soon as you get this so that I would know you understand this perfectly well.Hope we would have a long and pleasant working relationship.

KINDLY MAKE SURE YOU EMAIL ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS EMAIL SO I KNOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND ALL THIS PERFECTLY.

Regards

Dave Cote

Honeywell International Inc.101 Columbia RoadMorristown, NJ 07962******the money arrived in a fedex envelope, but that was all, no note or invoice which made me suspicious, so I went to honeywell website and they had the fraud alert on the first page. PLease let everyone know about this. I would like to do something about this. If anyone has any ideas please e-mail me at: Duanetaz@aol,com. Thanks.

Had a Fed Ex drop today with an "Offical Check" for 3502.20 inside, no note, nothing, just a check. checked recent expired web address and found honeywell internationl, was on that list. emailed this ??company?? and have not recieved response. will anyone out there let me know what to do with this thing??? do not wish to be held responsible... think i will send it back to them and then it is out of my hands...

I received a $200 MO from San Antonio Federal Credit Union in an old, typewritten SASE to an address where I have lived for a year. I don't live in TX, however, but the Midwest. I went to the website and have been having trouble with virus popups ever since. I'm taking the MO to the police tonight and I hope it's not too late and they've gotten a bunch of information off of my computer.

I, too received these money orders, as a response to an ad I had on Craigslist. They do look legitimate, even the bank I went to thought they were, but they refused to cash them. thank Goodness!! (I could have been in a lot of trouble!) I found that odd, so started research. I would like to report this, turn theses over to someone. anyone know who I should contact?

I received 3 moneygrams $855 ea. from Honeywell Group LTD. to cash and deduct 10% fee, from a James Clifton.Director; Human resources,101 Columbia Rd., Morriston, NJ. Looked very legit! Waiting for my bank to verify if the MG's are any good. I suspect they are not.

I received an e-mail asking for a Mystery Shopper, and if accepted through the company, would be paid $400 per week to shop some companies. I am a Mystery Shopper, so I sent the application in and was accepted. Today I received to MoneyGram Money Orders $850 each and instructions on which companies to shop, then I was to send a Western Union Money Order to the next shopper in another city.The Money Orders numbers were good, but they were cashed aleady, and these are just copies made with the same MoneyGram numbers. The persons that sent me these Money Orders spelled my name incorrectly, and showed my address on the front, where the senders address should have been. I have the name of the original sender and his phone number, can something be done to alert the FBI?

i got 2 money orders yesterday for an coffe maker i was selling in craiglist and i cash one of the becuz i wanted to send back the other one "becuz sounds wierd to me" so now im reading this this is fake moeny orders so whats gone happen to me i did deposit the check in my account :(( omg ppl doesnt have nothing to do These days!!

I received three moneyorders in the mail Thursday for $980.00 each. I called moneygram to authenicate them and they said it was too send to tell if they were real or not. I took them to Walmart customer service and they said they look real. I cant reach anyone today. How do I know if this was a blessing or if Im being scammed?

Okay, my time. I put T-shirts on Craigslist, and got reply. The guy would by 74 shirts for $300, and send me a Money order. Seemed pretty simple to me....Then I get an email saying his "assistant" screwed up and sent me too much money and could I cash the money orders and send the difference back to him. Didn't sound too good to me. I got the Money order(s) today for $795 each. More flags sent up now. Took it to the bank explaining that I was thinking possibly scam. (I forgot to add he wanted the extra money "wired" to him in London, England). The bank couldn't "not" cash them even though their check reader said the MCR code wasn't readable. I didn't cash then and took it to a moneygram center where they tested the watermark and it didn't work. The proble is no one seems to know what to do about this. I'd love to have the person caught. The supposed "sent" date was sat june 20th, yet the ordes were dated June23rd(received on the 24th) and the post mark was the 22nd. Sound fishy???? I sent email to man in England and told hime the bank put checks on hold and am waiting for response, expecting none...

recently my sister friend received 2 walmart money gram money orders for 950.00 each. they did not know the so call Steve Thomas who sent them bt she thought it was a blessing. when they went to the bank to deposit them he said they were fake but since they were from walmart go there to confirm it. so when my sister and her friend (the money orders were in my sister friend name) went to walmart they asked about them and walmart said they were fake. so then walmart wanted to call the police and m sister was fine with that because she wanted to file a report. when the police came the people turned the whole story around saying that my sister and her friend was trying to cash them...when really they were inquiring about the MO. my mother and i hurried to wal mart after we got the call about the situation. we brung the UPS express (overnite mail) package they came in. the manager of walmart said nothing was gonna happen bt my sister and her friend was arrested on their so call "probable cause" that the police had and bail was set for $11,200. I really feel that is unfair so please everyone be careful because my sister and her friend are in jail because of those stupid money orders bt when its time to go to court we will prove that they didn't make the money orders.

Wow I'm glad I found this blog. I got two Moneygram MO's last week from a "deaf guy" who called me with one of those relay services where they read to you what the deaf person types; anyway he was buying a puppy I had listed on a dogs website. Same M.O., send me a money order from a client of his who owed him money at his boutique? guy emailed me, said he lived in Michigan and would send me money orders to cash and wire his shipper in CA to come pickup the puppy and deliver to him. I say ok send it; a few days later I get an email with UPS ship #s and it came with two $950 money orders! The pup was $350 and the email said the shipper was gonna rent a van to come pick up the pup and deliver to his home in CA.? and that I should wire the balance (which was $1550) to the guy in CA. I guess this guy doesn't know the Alabama and California are few thousand miles apart. The UPS pkg came from Kansas City, KS and were filled out by a man's name and address in Maryland. Oh and one of the guys emails was signed with a womans name; when I internet white pages searched for the guy's name that filled out the money orders "the client" the woman's name was listed as his wife. I knew all this was sounding like baloney and crazy. The money orders had that Giant Eagle stamp on them. I took them to a check cashing moneygram store and told the guy about all this and could he check them for genuine; he said there was no way to check except if they had his store's stamp on them he would run it through to cash it and check that way. He recommended I take them to my bank and tell them all about it and let them check; by this time I was super suspicious and a little scared about this whole thing like being involved in drug or terrorist money changing or something. Not to mention getting charged by my bank for returned deposit if I tried to put them in the bank. These guys are pretty good I guess at getting you to think its all real like shipping UPS overnight and all.

My mom received 3 MG's for 980.00 each. They were received from an internet chat buddy who wanted her to cash these and get them to his son in Nashville. Her red flags went up so she brought them to me so I could investigate. When I called the number posted on this site, each of the 3 MG's had been cashed in March of this year for a significant amount less. She has a point of contact to which she was supposed to deliver this money. Well, now she's on her way to the police department. Let's hope they will set up some sort of sting to catch these people!

My mom received 3 MG's for $980 each. They were from a soldier she was chatting with online. He wanted her to cash them and send the money to the caregiver for his 17 year old son in Nashville. Red flags went up - why didn't he just send to the caregiver, right? Anyway, she brought them to me and I called the number from this site. Sure enough, all 3 MG's had already been cashed in March for MUCH smaller amounts than $980! She has the name and address of the person to whom she was supposed to deliver the money for this soldier's son. I'm proud to say she is on her way to the police station to try and arrange someway for that person to be met. Since it is less than an hour away, maybe at least one of these jerks can be caught! Wish us luck!

I recieved 2 moneygram money orders, in the amount of $975 each. From someone "interested"in buying a wedding dress from me off of Craigs list. When I recieved them I sent a email to the person i had been talking to asking why there was so much in these money orders. I was told to cash them in, and to keep my part for the dress and then to send the rest to a guy in south carolina, and someone would be over tomorrow to pick up the dress..well instead of taking the money orders to my local bank, I took them to a place called Money Box, who cashes them. AT FIRST look the guy told me they were fake. I had a feeling they were but I wanted to verify it. Oh well, i can still sell the dress for the asking price and the person who wanted this "money" isn't get a thing..in thelong run i will still get my money..just not from this person..lol

mine is from an online add I had the man wanted it sent by a shipping company to Spain and he got my address and sent me three (3) Money Grams each for $850. seq numbering all conf from real checks used I mounth befor I have mail address for these pepole what ever ther names when they go to pick up the mail what they think has the money the post office will arrest them all haha t/y Allen

I Have just received 2 cumberland farm moneey grams in the amount of 975.59 each for a mystery shopper claiming someone is stealing from the company so they needed me to cash these at my bank today. unfortunatly I have already been scammed by a clothing company and am now a convicted felon for cashing visa cheques so whatever u do please do not cash these.

I am also a victim, recieving a blank white envelope, with oonly my name and address with a pennsylvania post mark, i opened to find 3 moneygram money oreders, luckily i didnt post to my account but on having gone upto the money gram office, i an NOW being charged with 3 criminal offences of posessing "fraudulant financial documents".No money lost to scammers, but loosing to lawyers fees, and criminal record

I recieved 2 money grams today from Albertsons we run a business so instead of depositing them I asked my son who has been running the business if anyone needed to leave a deposit since we get calls from people stranded and others making payments for them, but he answered no there has been one lady calling but no confirmation on work to be done, so I wwent thru the internet looked for scams and this popped up so be careful, if it is to good to be true it alwys is.

A couple of weeks ago we received a phone call from a service for a deaf person stating that this man was interested in purchasing some vending machines from us. The amount was $200.00. I emailed him and asked how he was going to pay for them and pick them up and he said he would mail us the money and a courier would pick up the machines. I told him to send the money general delivery because I did not want to give out my address. About a week and half later we receive two Moneygrams in the amount of $975.00 each. We were a little weary. About two hours after we received them the service called us again and wanted us to go ahead and cash the money orders and send the rest of the cash to a courier. That made us real suspicious, so I called moneygram and the two money orders had been cashed back in November and they weren't even for the same amount that was on them now. I just can't believe what people will do to hurt others. They are lazy good for nothing people who need to get a real job and stop stealing from others. I just pray that others will find this site before they get taken.

I received two MO checks today each 950$ with USPS logo. How this started...I applied for a job at Craigslist and somebody replied that I am eligible and the right person for the job. I had to be a MYSTERY SHOPPER. My responsibility was to visit different shops and evaluate their activity. HOWEVER he told me I had to get MO checks via email, cash em and resend particular amount to a recipient mentioned by him. So I accepted his offer. Then he sent me above mentioned checks to start working for his company. Now I am reading these postings and I am sure these MOs are fake and I probably will take them to USPS and tell the whole thing.BUT...please give an advice. Will it be better to destroy them or take to USPS?

back in January I recieved 2 United States Postal money orders in the ammount of $996 each. I thought it was legit since my MIL told me about it, and I thought I would give it a try. I deposited them in my bank, finished my assignment, and pocketed $200. A week later they came back counterfit. My bank deducted the $1600 from my account. LUCKILY my tax return had been deposited and we were not negative...but we are out $1600 that we could have had. I filed complaints with the police, BBB, and FBI, and a fraud aid website. Needless to say I have learned my lesson and will never see that money again!

You will be receiving your 1st Assignment today (Thursday 03/22/2012 ) through USPS with tracking number # EO 910 764 815 US , Once you have received the package total $1,990.You are to cash the payment at your bank, deduct $200 pay for this assignment and have the remaining $1,790 wired via western union money transfer service to one of our secret shopper agent in Philippines :

! NOTICE THIS INSTRUCTION BELOW AGAIN !=============================================================During this assignment which requires you to have the payment cashed at your bank before proceeding to wire the remaining funds at any local western union money transfer locationyou provided in your assignment confirmation,You are expected to secretly perform the following shopping operation:

1. How fast and Efficient is the Western Union Money Transfer Service?2. How long does it take you to have the funds wired?3. How Close is the Western Union Money Transfer Location to your area?4. Is the Senders Request Form too short or Long? Kindly Advise5. Is the neighboring environment safe for handling Western Union Money Transfer Service.

You are expected to have this done today and email us back your results with the following information after you have the funds wired:

1. Name and Address of Sender2. Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)

Kindly get back ASAP because your results will be reviewed and collated for the upcoming 2012 Analyst/Investor Conference coming up on in December.

Best Regards,Marcus Hegan.

sure enough i recieved 2 money for 995 each... thankfully im smart enough to know that these was fake!! as soon as my husband gets home im goingto the police station i called and verified if they were safe to cash and they had already been cashed back in feb.. for 38 and for 104... these people suck i could have really used that money......... and not to mention they was bought in january smh

This e-mail is to notify you about your first assignment. The company has issued out a payment to you for your first assignment which means your weekly payment of $200 has been issued to you with some funds which you will use in executing your first assignment.

Read and make sure you understand all that is stated below to avoid any mistakes. You should receive money orders from one of our companies which is part of your first assignment by united states postal service.

Once you receive the money orders,Take it to your your bank for deposit then make immediate withdrawal.You are to deduct $200 as your weekly wages from the amount you received.

The remaining balance should be used for the below assignment. Please follow these instructions below.

1ST ASSIGNMENT:

You will be Evaluating Wal-mart store and Western Union outlet in your City. Cash the money orders at your Bank then go ahead with Wal-mart and western union evaluation.The money orders you received covers all expenditures including shopping , transport and your compensation (salary=$200 ) for these surveys .You are to purchase goods of your choice for your own use not more than $50 at any Wal-mart store close to you and also you will be using Western Union services to send the balance to another Mystery shopper to carry out his own Assignment. As a secret shopper, you should go there and study how to send money and memorize all you see at the outlet.

We want you to report back to us with the following information:

GUIDELINES -How long it took you to get services. -Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet -Smartness of the attendant -Customer service professionalism -Reaction of personnel under pressure -Information that you think would be helpful -Your comments and impressions.

Also to further finalize this Assignment, you have to get back to us with the Necessary report of Walmart and also with the below western union transfer information for the money you sent to the other mystery shopper:

1. Senders Name and Address 2. 10 Digit Money Transfer Control Number {M.T.C.N} 3. The amount transferred after deducting western union charges.

This project shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours to execute and the time limit matters to us.With that we can also determine your efficiency and the commitment you show towards working with us. Do get back to me with the report and transfer information.

Looking forward to work with you on this project .And remember to pretend to be a client who want to Shop and send money so they won't detect you are a secret shopper.

Regards,

Janet Harrison.

THIS WAS MY LETTER...WE AS A PEOPLE NEED TO DO SOMETHING. I HAVE THE TWO MONEYGRAMS without my name written on it. What is crazy about two or the months ago a local Community College had did a psa type movie on this very issue. I'm glad I watched it and not money hungry!! God bless all of you guys!! I pray that we all get out of this hump of needing money and that these predators get locked up.

My suggestion of putting words into actions is show everyone you know what a fake money order looks like. Part it in Facebook twitter about it because that's the next stop. I knew I want the only one but it felt like it...thank you got sharing your story!!!

Same thing happen to me, I deposit the money order in my account, and couple days went by. I found out that it was counterfeit, I didn't touch the money though..the only thing is the bank is closing my account because of this...i hope all this people who are scamming us...go to jail.

I am an employee at a local business in the Bay Area, CA. A customer walks in and gets about $220+ in items. When it came time to pay, he handed me the check for $300 and since we had accepted and done it in the past, I thought it was ok. I called the number to verify, and after about 10 mins of an automated service, the check was "verified". Ok, cool. I called my boss just to make sure, and he said as long as its verified it's ok. But something didn't feel right. I went against my better judgement and gave him his cash back. I stared and stared at that check for the longest time and began looking up how to identify false money grams. I found this website too late=( I found the money gram international number in which I spoke to a representative who confirmed my horrible gut feeling- it was a fake and I had just gotten played for a fool. I called my boss right away and related the bad news and of course he was upset.

The very first thing a person in this situation should do is LISTEN TO YOUR INSTINCTS, if they are physically telling your body something isn't right, it isn't. SECOND, do not call the phone number on the check, as it could be a fake. It saves time and money to speak to an actual representative using a phone number you know came from the actual company.

I feel so stupid and dumb for falling for something that was so obvious and could have easily been prevented. And now I owe $300 to my employer. As a full time student at a college, that is going to set me back, big time.